Govt against teachers’ training in distant mode

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New Delhi, October 21: The government is considering to discourage offering pre-service training in distant mode for students looking forward to taking up teaching jobs.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal held a roundtable on teachers’ education here on Monday where majority of the participants said teachers’ education should be given on face-to-face mode in view of the importance of such education.

The government will convene a meeting of the vice chancellors soon to discuss the issue.

India asks developed countries to ensure fund to tackle

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New Delhi, October 21: India today asked the developed nations to ensure financing to help developing countries check climate change effects in the context of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on “reliable, sustainable and predictable” basis.

Climate change financing has to be new and additional and cannot be seen as another form of Overseas Development Assistance but rather as entitlement for developing countries under an equitable regime, Finance Minister Pranab Mukhrjee said.

Goa serial killers committed murder in Mumbai too: Police

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Panaji, October 21: Four persons, including a woman and a 16-year-old girl who were arrested by the Goa police earlier this week for multiple murders in the state, had left a trail of blood in Mumbai too, police said.
Speaking to reporters here Wednesday, Superintendent of Police (CID) Atmaram Deshpande said that the gang, which includes a woman and a 16-year-old girl, had also confessed to murdering a woman in Virar, a suburb on the outskirts of Mumbai.

Goa blast accused’s father demands compensation

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Panaji, October 21: The father of the main accused in the Goa Diwali eve blast case has served a legal notice on the Goa police, demanding compensation for harassing the family by not handing over the Sanatan Sanstha activist’s body to them in time.

The notice which was served to the Margao police Wednesday, seeks Rs.20,000 as damages for the expenses incurred by the Malgonda Patil’s family, who arrived in Goa from Sangli Oct 18 to claim his body, which is still lying in the morgue.

Constable suspended after under-trial meets girl friend

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Kanpur, October 21: A police constable here was suspended on the charge of dereliction of duty, sources said.

According to Circle Officer, Lakshmi Niwas Mishra, constable Shyam Singh was suspended for laxity in duty after he allowed an under-trial Rohit to meet his girl-friend at a hotel after the end of hearing.

The constable waited outside the hotel, while the under-trial met his girl friend, Mishra said adding police raided the hotel on a tip-off and arrested Rohit.

Former BJP MP to contest Chhattisgarh by-poll as Independent

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Raipur, October 21: Tarachand Sahu, a former four-time Lok Sabha member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Chhattisgarh, filed his nomination papers Wednesday for an assembly by-poll as an Independent.
The poll for the Vaishali Nagar seat is to be held Nov 7. Sahu was expelled from the BJP in January on charges of anti-party activities.

The by-poll was necessitated after BJP legislator Saroj Pandey was elected to the Lok Sabha in May.

YSR’s son meets Veerappa Moily in Delhi

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New Delhi, October 21: On his first visit here after father’s death, Y S Jaganmohan Reddy today met senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily and is understood to have discussed the current political situation in Andhra Pradesh amid demands by his supporters to make him the chief minister.

Jaganmohan, who arrived here today to attend the meeting of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, met Moily in the evening.

New South Wales set Bushrangers 170-run target

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New Delhi, October 21: New South Wales Blues scored 169 runs for seven wickets against Victoria Bushrangers in the first semi-final of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket at Ferozeshah Kotla stadium here Wednesday.
Openers Philip Hughes (35) and David Warner (48) gave the Blues a good start adding 62 runs off 41 balls.

Contributions from Daniel Smith (20) and Simon Katich (26) then took the Blues to a competitive total.

Clint McKay was the pick of the bowlers, claiming three wickets for 27 runs.

—IANS

Company Law Board may collapse if law tribunal doesn’t work

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Kolkata, October 21: Emphasising the importance of the proposed National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Company Law Board (CLB) chairman S. Balasubramanian Wednesday said it will be difficult for CLB to continue if the tribunal does not start operating in a couple of years.
“If NCLT does not come in next one to two years, CLB may collapse,” he said during an interactive session organised by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) here.

The hearing on the NCLT got completed a few months back but the judgment by the Supreme Court is still awaited, he said.

Joseph Wiseman, first James Bond villain, is dead

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New York, October 21: Canadian actor Joseph Wiseman, who made screen history as the villian in the first James Bond movie “Dr. No”, has died. He was 91.
Wiseman died at his home. He is survived by his daughters – Martha and Ruth Wiseman.

Imdb.com reports that Wiseman was a distinguished name in both film and on stage, and remained active on Broadway in recent years. In fact, his last role was on Broadway in a 2001 production of “Judgment At Nuremberg”.

Kuwait’s Wataniya telecom third quarter profit slides

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Kuwait City, October 21: Kuwait National Mobile Telecommunications Co (Wataniya) announced a 27.7 percent decline in its third quarter profits, in a statement posted Wednesday on the Kuwait bourse website.

Wataniya said its net profit stopped at 18.5 million dinars (64.7 million dollars) in the quarter ending September 30 compared to 25.6 million dinars (89.5 million dollars) in the same period last year.

The statement did not provide any reason for the fall.

Clashes over slums break out in Algiers

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Algiers, October 21: Youths from a slum in Algeria’s capital clashed Tuesday with police in a protest against their housing conditions, leaving at least 11 policemen injured.

Similar incidents had occurred on Monday as residents of the Diar Echems working-class district of Algiers protested against their squalid housing and demanded new homes.

At around 3:30 pm (1430 GMT), dozens of youths were harassing riot police by throwing stones and other projectiles at them from an area that overlooks the road, which was closed to all traffic.

Obama hails Maliki’s business visit

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Washington, October 21: US President Barack Obama hailed the importance of a visit by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is accompanied by executives from 200 businesses and officials overseeing some 750 projects in all economic sectors.

“It represents a transition in our bilateral relationship so that we are moving now to issues beyond security and we are beginning to talk about economy, trade, commerce,” Obama said as a two-day business and investment conference began at a Washington hotel on Tuesday.

Yemen says army close to ending rebellion

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Sanaa, October 21: The Yemeni army is coming close to ending the Zaidi Shiite rebellion in the rugged mountains of the north, the government spokesman said on Tuesday, 10 weeks into its campaign.

“The armed forces are taking calculated moves, and a final end to these confrontations will come soon,” said Information Minister Hassan al-Lawzi, according to Saba state news agency.

Signs that the war is near its end can be seen by the “armed forces’ tight siege of these groups and cutting their lines of supply,” Saba reported.

Sleiman: Israeli spying violates UN resolution

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Madrid, October 21: Lebanon’s President Michel Sleiman on Tuesday accused Israel of spying on his country in violation of a United Nations resolution intended to promote peace in the region.

“There is a difference between spying carried out by people who have been detected and detained and detectors and spying equipment which have been found during last week,” he told reporters in Spain where he is on a state visit.

Iraqi MPs fail to agree on election law

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Baghdad, October 21: Iraqi MPs failed Wednesday to agree on a new electoral law intended to establish more transparency for polls due in January because of a stalemate over the oil-rich province of Kirkuk.

Parliamentary speaker Iyad al-Samarrai told reporters the issue had been referred to a senior political council made up of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani and the leaders of major political parties.

Iran: Pakistan responsible for arresting rebels

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Tehran, October 21: Iran’s chief of police said on Wednesday that Pakistan was “directly responsible” for arresting anti-Tehran militants who launched a lethal suicide attack against the elite Revolutionary Guards.

Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam also said that talks between Tehran and Islamabad are under way to arrest the “main elements of the terrorist act.”

Did Lithuanian also host illegal secret CIA jail?

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Vilnius, October 21: Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said Tuesday she had “indirect suspicions” that the Baltic state had hosted a secret CIA prison.

“I do not have a clear answer. I was in Brussels when it could have been happening. I have indirect suspicions. Not only I, but also the international community,” Grybauskaite told reporters.

Grybauskaite took office as president in July after having served since 2004 as Lithuania’s member of the European Union’s Brussels-based executive arm, the European Commission.

Somali Islamist factions clash

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Kismayo, October 21: Fierce battles erupted Wednesday between rival Islamist rebel groups in the southern Somali town of Kismayo, shattering a tentative peace agreement, witnesses said.

The Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab militia and the more political Hezb al-Islam had announced a truce after clashing repeatedly over control of Kismayo since the beginning of the month.

Iran pressures Pakistan over ‘US-backed’ attack

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Tehran, October 21: Tehran will step up diplomatic pressure on Islamabad to rein in US-backed militants allegedly operating from Pakistan, Iranian analysts said Wednesday.

However, the friendly ties that exist between the neighbours are unlikely to be affected in the long term by Sunday’s attack against Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards in southeastern Iran, the analysts said.

Extremist Israeli FM snubbed by Cairo

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Cairo, October 21: Egypt is opposed to extremist Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman attending a meeting of the Mediterranean Union which it co-chairs with France, diplomats said on Wednesday.

Foreign ministers of the 43-strong grouping, which brings European Union members together with states from north Africa, the Balkans, Arab countries, Israel and Turkey, are due to gather in November in Istanbul.

An Egyptian diplomat said that Cairo “did not want to send an invitation to the Israeli (foreign) minister,” but could accept that Lieberman be represented by someone else.

Kuwait MPs fined for slandering government

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Kuwait City, October 21: A Kuwaiti court fined two members of parliament 3,000 dinars (10,500 dollars) each on Wednesday after convicting them of slandering top officials, including the premier, a legal source said.

The court convicted Islamist MP Waleed al-Tabtabai over critical remarks he made against Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah, a member of the ruling family, over allegations of corruption in the health ministry.

The Al-Watan newspaper was asked to pay a similar fine for publishing his comments, the source said.

Israel wants international law of war changed

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Tel Aviv, October 21: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed his government on Tuesday to draw up proposals to amend the international laws of war after a damning UN report on its war in Gaza.

The security cabinet did not, however, discuss calls made by ministers for an internal investigation into the 22-day offensive at the turn of the year that killed some 1,400 Palestinians (mainly civilians) and 13 Israelis, an said.

World Bank arm debuts Islamic bond Mideast list

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Washington, October 21: The International Finance Corp., a wing of the World Bank, said Wednesday it would list its first Islamic bond in the Middle East.

The IFC Hilal Sukuk, a greenback-denominated 100 million dollar issue with a five-year maturity, will be listed with the Nasdaq Dubai and Bahrain stock exchanges, the Washington-based corporation said.

Sukuk is similar to a bond in Western finance but complies with Islamic Shariah law, which forbids charging interest.

UAE President: Our economy solid, including Dubai

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Abu Dhabi, October 21: President Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan said on Wednesday that the economy of the United Arab Emirates was strong, including that of worst-hit emirate Dubai, despite the global recession.

“Despite its negative effects, the global economic crisis has demonstrated the strength of our economy,” Sheikh Nahyan said in a speech at a new opening of the UAE consultative assembly, the Federal National Council.